Union Square campus construction to begin early next year in Greensboro

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GREENSBORO, N.C. — With $2 million dollars in funding included in this year’s state budget for the Union Square Campus, city leaders and organizers of the project feel more confident that construction will start on time.

By early 2015, construction is expected to begin on the corner of South Elm Street and Lee Street to build the multi-million dollar campus.

"It's really starting to gel and come into fruition right now," said Mayor Nancy Vaughan.

Vaughan and other city leaders campaigned for months to get the state funding.

"We went to Raleigh a couple of times to ask them to please include it," she said.

The campus will consolidate nursing programs and equipment from UNCG, GTCC, and North Carolina A&T.

But even with the state's help, the project is still $1.5 million short of the $10 million needed for construction.

Once built, Vaughan says the campus will turn Greensboro into a major hub for nursing.

"We're going to have people coming from all over the country to work and learn in this building," she said.

Along with its academic value, business owners like Sarah McDavid look forward to the extra foot traffic.

She's owned her coffee and beads shop on Elm Street for the past 15 years and says of all the new developments going on downtown, a school would be a nice change of pace.

“Being as though it`s not another nightclub, I think it`s a positive step in the right direction," McDavid said.